kirtap Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 So, I’ve finally decided that there is no way I can go the whole summer without boarding so it's time for me to get a longboard. I'm 150lbs and there are plenty of hills around here that I could take it to. I wouldn’t want something that goes super fast down the hills, but fast enough for me to carve and get low. But also I would need to skate with it easily because I'll be taking it to school with me in a year to get to classes. But then again, maybe all skateboards are easy to skate with, I really don’t know anything about them so any help or suggestions on boards would be great. Thanks. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 it's been said befor but I'll say it again Gravity Skateboards makes one of the best longboards on the market and they have a huge selection...I've got my heart set on a either a pool36 or a Carve39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Im taking up longboarding this summer. Im probally going to go with a gravity hypercarve. I made a shlong (lol still gets me every time) a few weeks ago. Its a short deck redrilled so that the trucks are mounted as far away as possible, pretty fun to ride actually. Check out www.silverfishlongboarding.com for a TON of info. ________ Suzuki jimny specifications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 The Gravity boards are really nice (I have a Brad Edwards 40 from Gravity among many other boards), but they are also sort of like the Honda of skateboard (everyone has one). Now there is nothing wrong with that (I drive a Honda Civic), but if you want something a little different here are some suggestions Loaded Vanguard Flex 4 - this is the closest to the snowboard carving feeling I've gotten on a traditional longboard skateboard. You'll see the people at hardbooter.com really like it with their review of it. If you find the 38" to be a bit long, go with the Pintail, it is also a lot of fun. I know the Vanguard is concave and can definitely take you up to 25-30mph (I've done it) but I usually make deep springy carves at 15-20 mph. Comet Proflex 40". Vertically laminated poplar-hickory core, triaxial fiberglass, carbon fiber tail reinforcement, and epoxy. These boards are light and stiff and I've personally seen team rider Nick Price bomb going 45 mph past me on one of these boards. Subsonic Swift 38" This board is is concave and lowered (a lower deck is closer to the ground, making it more stable at higher speeds also when pushing). As mentioned, check out silverfishlongboarding.com as it has a lot of info. Overally I would recommend getting a board with concave as it cradles your foot and it comforting since you feet aren't attached to the board. Oh, if you are interesting pumping, maybe check out the Roe PavedWave LDP (long distance pumper) board. These guys ride their boards over 10 miles, without ever touching their feet to the ground. Here's a video be sure the check out the end, where one guy pumps the board uphill faster than a jogger. More standard slalom pump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtap Posted May 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I checked out the gravity boards and I liked the hypercarve, plus it wasn't as expensive as I thought they might be. Has anyone used any of these boards? How do you like them? Also, what are all the different wheels and the different trucks? Just for different riding style and turning radius, etc? Again, thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I checked out the gravity boards and I liked the hypercarve, plus it wasn't as expensive as I thought they might be. Has anyone used any of these boards? How do you like them? Also, what are all the different wheels and the different trucks? Just for different riding style and turning radius, etc? Again, thanks for any help. Silverfish will have a lot more info but here are some basicsWheels: Bigger lets you roll over more stuff and keeps it's speed up well after a push (or downhill). They do take longer to accelerate down a hill. Careful of wheelbite (when board touches the wheel, it acts like a brake and you will probably be tossed onto the road). Smaller wheels accelerate quicker and have a lower "topspeed" which can be nice on steep hills. If you are longboarding 68-76mm is the norm. Softer wheel give a much smoother ride, Hard wheels tend to be faster on smooth surfaces, also easier to slide. Trucks - Reverse kingpin longboard trucks like Randals, Holeys allow you to get a relatively deep, yet stable turn. Seismics has springs, so the return to center is very strong (some people love it, some people hate it). Torsion trucks like Originals get a ridiculous lean, but you turn *really* tight... like 4 foot diameter, usually the wheel will slide out if you crank it too hard. Conventional trucks like Indy and Tracker tend to turn less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtap Posted May 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 So I saw that when buying the Hypercarve, you get the choice of two different trucks, the Randals for an extra $8 or the trackers. Whats the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I guess I wasn't very clear when I said Randals give you a "deeper, stable turn." where as conventional trucks like Trackers "turn less." The Randals are an upgrade and are generally a better truck for longboarding. There are some QC issues (axles not straight, mounting holes not always drilled straight) but overally they are the gold standard of a longboard truck. I would strongly recommend that whatever truck you buy, that you get a lot of replacement bushing likes the Kihro big bad bushing kit and literally TRY EVERY COMBINATION. Taken from the Newbie Resource Guide at Silverfish. …1. They use trucks like Tracker B-2's or the Sector Nine `Pivot Trucks', which don't turn very tight, and 2. they mount the trucks on the board with a riser so that the deck is raised up a bit which affords the deck more clearance over the wheels, and 3. sometimes, the deck is shaped so that at the point where the wheel might hit the board in a turn, the deck is narrower or there is a piece cutout. Notice how a Gravity HyperCarve has little half-moons cut out above the wheels (called wheel cutouts) in the front, and the deck gets narrow above the back wheels. Or picture the classic longboard shape, a Pintail. The front trucks are mounted way up on the nose where the board is still thin and way back on the tail where it gets thin again. The drawback of using a combination of these approaches is that you end up with not-so-turny trucks, and when you use a riser, you are making the board less stable than it could be as you raise the center of gravity. Another strategy is to make the deck shape so narrow above the front and back truck that you can use really carvy trucks with no riser, and you still don't get wheel bite. I'm talking of course about a Loaded Vanguard, and that explains why the board is totally cut away at the back and front ends, so it can use the Randal R-2's which turn a lot sharper than your Pivot truck or Tracker B-2. Another option is to use REALLY wide trucks like Independent 215s which stick out past the deck. (what you want to know about truck width is that the wider the truck, the more stable the ride but the slower the trucks will react in a turn). And yet another strategy is to make trucks that turn sharp and quick, but have a built in turn stopper to stop the truck before the wheels hit the deck, like the Exkate and Baku torsion trucks (Bakus only come on Barfoot and Hobie completes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 So I saw that when buying the Hypercarve, you get the choice of two different trucks, the Randals for an extra $8 or the trackers. Whats the difference? Mostly what Lonerider said but I wanted to expand a bit. R2 are much better at speed than Tracker B2's they're more stable when you are hauling a$$ downhill but not so good for low speed cruising. So it really depends on what your terrain is gonna be...if you got a lot of flats around town then B2's are fine but if the plan is to bomb hills and have a round town board well the R2's are worth the extra $8 Someone said that Gravity is the Honda of the longboard world but I'm not so sure I agree with that...I think Sector 9 fills that role but you are right stating that Gravity boards are becoming more widespread (at least Gravity OEM's higher quality parts). My current dream board is a Lush Kilima Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I'm pretty new to longboarding, but... I bought a Kebbek JimZ flushcut last year and have really enjoyed carving the hill in front of my house with it. There's no worry of wheel bite since there's no deck above the wheels. :) Drop decks take a lot of the effort out of pushing, too. It seems like it takes more effort than usual to really tilt the board in the turms but the JimZ is pretty wide so there's lots of leverage. The 'standing area' is huge for a drop deck, too. http://www.kebbek.com/ I put Randal's quicker-turning baseplates on it, so it turns pretty tight. I would have used Seismics (all of my other boads have Seismic trucks) because I like the way they turn, but they would take some work to integrate with a deck that uses drop-though mounting. http://www.seismicskate.com/ http://www.randal.com/ I skate with much lower stance angles that I use for snowboarding, so I like to use wide decks, like 9.5" - 10" or so. I don't feel like I can get enough leverage to tilt he board with higher stance angles, and this leaves my feet hanging over the edges which doesn't feel right. For wheels, Abec11 has a great selection of diameters, widths, and durometers. http://www.abec11.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Someone said that Gravity is the Honda of the longboard world but I'm not so sure I agree with that...I think Sector 9 fills that role but you are right stating that Gravity boards are becoming more widespread (at least Gravity OEM's higher quality parts). My current dream board is a Lush Kilima Sector 9 is the Ford of longboards. And shhh about the Kilima, that board is MINE! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 Sector 9 is the Ford of longboards. And shhh about the Kilima, that board is MINE! :) Not Ford more like Hyundai...that Lush is the first bamboo board that actually looks like it's exploiting the properties of the material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 Not Ford more like Hyundai...that Lush is the first bamboo board that actually looks like it's exploiting the properties of the material.This is kind of getting silly with the analogy, but Hyundai wasn't everywhere like Ford (for the Sector 9 analogy) and personally I'd take a Hyundai over a Ford in 2006 (with a few exceptions like Bamboo Pintail).I have a Bamboo Loaded on the way to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtap Posted May 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 I suppose I could use the car analogy...since I dont have a car, any decent one with the basics but isnt super expensive is good for me. That way I'll atleast have one to use. Same goes for a board... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 I suppose I could use the car analogy...since I dont have a car, any decent one with the basics but isnt super expensive is good for me. That way I'll atleast have one to use. Same goes for a board... Yea, go with Gravity then. the Hypercarve has a very traditional, but good shape (my friend has a hypercarve from ten years ago which is the same shape, just now the materials and construction are better) - why fix something when it's not broken? I would recommend getting the Randals and a soft set of wheels (75-80a). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtap Posted May 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Would you get wheels that soft for carving or would that just be a good place for a beginner to start? I read their site and it says for carving they recommend using something between 80-85? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get it right the first time. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Would you get wheels that soft for carving or would that just be a good place for a beginner to start? I read their site and it says for carving they recommend using something between 80-85? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get it right the first time.Thanks Yes, soft wheels for carving. I think you must have misunderstood whatever you read... read more posts if you are still confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopoet178 Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 If you want a good cheap longboard do what I did. Wait for a friend to get a new one and take his old longboard . That worked for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 nice one! so I was playin golf yesterday, and suddenly cart paths took on a whole new dimension to me. this place had some that would have been AWESOME. I gotta get me one of these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 If you want a good cheap longboard do what I did. Wait for a friend to get a new one and take his old longboard . That worked for me. Best recommendation, so far..... I like my S9, but I also like Fords( 68 'Stang, 99 Expedition, 01 Ford Volvo S40)..... But I'll readily admit I'm no longboard expert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipuppy Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 I know this isn't a longboard but has anybody tried it??? It looks really scary but I know that I felt way more comfortable and lasted longer on this one than I have on any other regular skateboard. http://www.freebord.com/ check out the videos on the website too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 I know this isn't a longboard but has anybody tried it??? It looks really scary but I know that I felt way more comfortable and lasted longer on this one than I have on any other regular skateboard.http://www.freebord.com/ check out the videos on the website too I tried one once, but I found that I would rather just slide a longboard instead of gumming things up with a third wheel. Nobody likes to be the third wheel... :rolleyes: ________ Pedro rodr?guez (racing driver) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 I know this isn't a longboard but has anybody tried it??? It looks really scary but I know that I felt way more comfortable and lasted longer on this one than I have on any other regular skateboard.http://www.freebord.com/ check out the videos on the website too I've ridden it a bunch of times (they are based in SF and so have free demos on Sundays around the Bay Area). I still prefer sliding a regular longboard. The problem I had with the Freebord where that the regular trucks and deck weren't particularly fun to carve on - and so you end up doing a lot of skidding just to control speed and that's about it. I think you can buy the middle wheels and put them on a regularly longboard, that' s a thought... but then again I can slide a longboard without them most of the time. Mind you I was really awkward on a skateboard when I started riding them and that was only 2 years ago...If you are worried about controlling your speed, check out a Dirtsurfer has it has a very easy and good braking system (it rides more like a bicycle though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtap Posted May 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 After looking at all the boards I decided to go with the Loaded Vanguard. This sounds the most like what I want to do and would be the best in the long run. Now all I have to do is save up a bit to make sure I have enough to cover everything and hopefully I'll be on it soon. Thanks for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Dasai Posted May 11, 2006 Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 Get the smaller Vanguard - longer wheelbases mean shallower turns, which means it's harder to control your speed, which means you'll be restricted to shallower hills (unless you want to bomb hills, in which case you wouldn't want a flexy turner like a Vanguard anyway). I bought a longboard because I wanted to replicate snowboard carved turns, but I've ended up getting more into slalom, which is seriously fun. From a recent race (click it for the full-size version): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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